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Saturday, March 4, 2017

You guys, I really feel I've polished this turd pretty nicely. The entry of a raised ranch is just so lame. It's too small, you have to choose whether to go up or down, and there's always crap laying everywhere. Here is our entry (pretty much) when we moved in, complete with 70s paneling, freshly removed carpet on the stairs, very ugly-fancy closet doors, country oak railing, underwhelming peachy ceramic tile floor.

And here is the view today!

In this photo, you can see the hideous fan I couldn't wait to remove. Unfortunately, after the granny curtains were removed from the living room window, and we actually moved into the house, I realized how much that fan must've been used. It gets so hot since our living room faces southwest. Another reason to live in a house for awhile before making decisions!

And here is the best before I have from the upstairs. We had already taken the paneling and all the trim off, painted over the peach walls, and the hardwoods and treads had been refinished.

Here it is today.

Here is another before. Our new white trim and light had just been installed.

Here is this view today - the 'money shot!' What I love about this before and after, is that only the paint and accessories are different. All the main elements were already there in the before. You don't have to spend a lot of money to make a space look much better!

I can't tell you how much more I smile when I walk past the front door now. Here is a closer look at the rag rug I got on Overstock. It feels so good to cover up that floor tile! I chose this rug for many reasons. I knew a lighter rug would get filthy, I also wanted a reversible one, and it needed to be low enough to fit under the door. The price ($35) was the deciding factor. There are many colors on the website, but our new blue sectional in the living room made me go for this color palette.

Based on the colors in the rug, I decided to paint the front door and closet doors with another shade of Fusion Mineral paint called Midnight Blue. I picked up a sample jar to make sure, and loved it.

I think this is such a fun way to handle the dated doors.

I really wanted to replace the bifold doors with plain white ones. Unsurprisingly, the opening for the closet is 47 inches, instead of the standard 48. Rather than special order smaller doors, I decided to just reuse the ones we had while I figure out what I want to do. I couldn't think of a way to update the dated glass inserts, but thought with the right treatment, they could look ok. After the dark paint and incredible Anthropologie knobs, they look almost cute and antique.

The opposite of the closet had a sliver of space for a small stool and table. I found them at Target, and dressed them up with some accessories to make it look more homey. I knew I was on the right track when Shaun came home from work after my styling and said 'It looks like a hotel in here!' I sit right on that stool while waiting for Ashford to get off the school bus every day.

The planter is an old one from Ikea, the indigo candle is from Target, as well as the gold tray. The marble clock is from World Market, but I may move that to the guest room nightstand.

I found the pillow at Home Goods, and the faux fur is one of my newborn session props!

The black coat rack from Pottern Barn has been a lifesaver. It's usually stuffed full, and is sturdy enough for bags and backpacks. I love getting that stuff off the floor.

All of this is wonderful, but my very favorite part of the new look is my gallery wall. I have never done one, I thought I lacked the creativity to put the different frames together, and also just didn't know where to start. Then, Art.com sent me a mailer with the most adorable print advertised.

Fowl with Pearls (mounted on wood) became mine! Look at her, so disapproving and regal.

I had originally thought a mix of black and white frames would be ideal, but then I went to Target and saw the gold frames. They were inexpensive, but didn't look it. I decided a mix of gold, black and wood frames would be beautiful and tie in everything I had going on here. Since the existing front door and sidelites have a ton of gold detail running through them, and the door handle is polished brass, I chose to embrace it. If you're looking for gold frames, these look so much better in person than online! Not sure why they call them 'mat bronze,' though.

I started the hanging process with paper templates of the artwork, the gold frames, and some simple black frames I got at Michaels.

I then filled in the remaining spaces with the framed watercolor dots from Target, and other wood frames. I also splurged on another smaller wood-mount art print from Art.com, the dashing Gavroche.

I just love it all together! I wish I could continue the gallery all the way to the ceiling and around to the right, but it's so hard to hang things that high. I already had to resort to unsafe measures just to get that watercolor print hung. (Think a board laying in between a step and a ladder. Yikes!)

It feels so much better to have something to look at as you trudge up the stairs carrying 8 bags of groceries.

So, this space isn't really done, I have another coat to do on the railing, and some more work on the stairs going down. For now, I'm calling it done and taking a break! Here are some before and after comparisons to see how far it's come in here.

Thanks for reading, I hope to clean up the living room enough to show you that soon!

About Me

My name is Sara. I am a home owner/renovator, photographer, and stay at home mom in the Chicago area trying to cram all kinds of projects into the time my son is at school. Ashford is 3, and I had our second baby Zach December 2015, so things are pretty busy around here! I like slightly inappropriate humor, wine, and stalking house blogs. I love starting new DIY projects and sometimes hate finishing them. I love taking portraits of families, children and couples whenever I can. This blog is all about the projects my husband and I tackle, the projects that fizzle, and the funny things that happen to us along the way.